Follow Your Vision and Never Give Up!

About the Book

In October of 1968, an eighteen-year-old girl was on her way to work in Watts, California, when she was struck by a Southern Pacific train as she crossed an intersection. After the train dragged her body thirty feet, amputated her right leg, and severed her left thumb, the teenager called out for Jesus and promised that, if allowed to live, she would be a witness for Him. That teenage girl would eventually become Barbara Ann Smith-Hookfin-Franklin-Stephen-Sterrett. Sharing the story of her life, Barbara describes how she faced life’s greatest challenges head-on as she learned how to be a disabled mother, created a center for the handicapped, traveled to Japan to sing in a concert, and graduated from college with honors. As she details how she somehow managed to survive two subsequent strokes, live through Hurricane Katrina, and handle a divorce, Barbara illustrates how she persevered through each challenge by putting one foot in front of the other and always believing God would show her the way. Through poems and anecdotes, Follow Your Vision and Never Give Up! recalls one woman’s journey through life as she keeps a promise to God and achieves much more than she ever imagined.

About the Author

Barbara Ann Smith-Hookfin-Franklin-Stephen-Sterrett earned associate’s degrees in business administration and community social services from Merritt College in Oakland, California, and a bachelor of science degree in sociology/social services from Cal State–Hayward in Hayward, California. Now retired, she resides in a senior living community in Sacramento, California.